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*FIRST VISION ACCOUNT (September-November 1832) | *FIRST VISION ACCOUNT (September-November 1832) | ||
− | :"'''I felt to mourn for my own sins'''....[The Lord said,] 'thy sins are forgiven thee'....after many days I fell into transgression and sinned in many things | + | :"'''I felt to mourn for my own sins'''....[The Lord said during the First Vision,] 'thy sins are forgiven thee'....after many days I fell into transgression and sinned in many things....I called again upon the Lord and he shewed unto me a heavenly vision for behold an angel of the Lord came and stood before me....the Lord had prepared spectacles for to read the Book therefore I commenced translating the characters." |
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
The Prophet's mother - Lucy Mack Smith - wrote a letter in 1831 which indicates that her son's First Vision consisted of seeing an "angel" instead of Deity. This documentary evidence demonstrates that the Prophet's story evolved over time.
Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st Century Mormonism (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2004), 32, 34.
The full text of the letter in question (written on 6 January 1831 in Waterloo, New York to Lucy's siblings) can be found in Benjamin E. Rich, ed., Scrapbook of Mormon Literature (Chicago: Henry C. Etten and Co., 1913), 1:543–46.
Anyone who reads the full text of this letter will soon discover that its stated purpose is to introduce the Book of Mormon to Lucy's siblings, to prepare them to receive a copy of it when it is presented to them, to explain that it represents the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and to summarize how it came forth in their day. It says absolutely nothing about Joseph's encounter with the Book of Mormon "angel" being his FIRST spiritual manifestation.
Critics fail to mention that Lucy's 1831 letter not only contains a distinct First Vision storyline theme ("the churches have all become corrupted...the Lord hath spoken it") but it also closely paraphrases a section of the Articles and Covenants of the Church that is recognized by LDS scholars as the earliest published reference to the First Vision experience. This material was recorded by April 1830.
Critics also fail to point out that almost exactly two months before Lucy Mack Smith wrote her letter, four LDS missionaries (Oliver Cowdery, Orson Pratt, Peter Whitmer Jr. and Ziba Peterson) were publicly teaching that Joseph Smith had seen God "personally" and had received a commission from Him to preach true religion (The Reflector, vol. 2, no. 13, 14 February 1831 [Palmyra, New York]. It is specifically stated in this article that the missionaries made their comments about 1 November 1830).
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